The California State flag flies beside a sign for its sister city Split outside City Hall, in Los Angeles, California on January 27, 2017. A campaign by Californians to secede from the rest of the country over Donald Trump's election is gaining steam with suporters given the green light to start collecting signatures for the measure to be put to a vote. / AFP / Mark RALSTON (Photo credit should read MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)
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California is still requiring masks in these places
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The California State flag flies beside a sign for its sister city Split outside City Hall, in Los Angeles, California on January 27, 2017. A campaign by Californians to secede from the rest of the country over Donald Trump's election is gaining steam with suporters given the green light to start collecting signatures for the measure to be put to a vote. / AFP / Mark RALSTON (Photo credit should read MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)
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CNN  — 

A coronavirus variant first identified in India is “like Covid on steroids,” Andy Slavitt, former White House senior adviser for Covid-19 response, said Wednesday.

“(The Delta variant) is a more virulent strain,” Slavitt told CNN. “This is like Covid on steroids. You can be around people for less time and still get exposed.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has labeled the Delta variant a “variant of concern,” a designation given to strains of a virus that scientists believe are more transmissible or can cause more severe disease.

The CDC says the variant accounts for about 10% of coronavirus cases in the United States.

Slavitt said the variant provides people with one more reason to get vaccinated.

“If you have been vaccinated, you have very little to worry about,” he said.